Case Study Queensland Eye Hospital

The Queensland Eye Hospital is the single largest standalone ophthalmic surgical day facility in Australia, with some 7,000 eye surgical cases per year.

In 2005 the hospital moved to new premises in Spring Hill Brisbane and was at that time the most modern ophthalmic hospital in the world. With 23 surgeon shareholders and a further 15 Visiting Eye Surgeons the hospital was running at around 80% capacity in its four operating theatres and 4 minor procedure and laser rooms.

The facility included a waiting room with capacity for 50 patients as well as 10 pre-op consulting rooms where preliminary dilation eye drops could be administered and where final pre-operative checks and assessments were made by anesthetists. The recovery facility had 22 recliner chair in second stage and 10 first stage recovery beds. During busy days the hospital admitted and separated up to 60 patients per day.

The Goals

As a private hospital it was incumbent upon the management to find ways to optimise utility on our theatre and medical facility investment. Specifically we needed to demonstrate:

enhanced operational efficiency

ensure on time inventory management

enhance the patient experience

improve ROI on theatre assets

The Outcomes

The Scan Care program enabled management to measure and adjust in real time all inputs to the patient transit process throughout the facility. It accurately measures time of all clinical staff in theatres, the quantity and cost of all medial consumables as well as transit times of patients in the operating theatre and other stages of their procedure.

As a result we gained insights into what medical consumables and surgical packs were used by different surgeons for the same item number. This enabled management to do make evidence based comparisons to determine what was best practice, most cost efficient and, importantly, what brings about superior patient outcomes.

Some of the benefits that were realised as a result of implementing ScanCARE Activity Management include:

improved roster management and theatre utility

reduction in medical consumables

better insight into the economics of efficiency

reduced waiting times for patients

freed up space and time for additional procedures and surgeons to access the facility

With this data as the basis for regular review meetings with surgeons and clinical staff, we were able to improve staff roster and theatre utility management. We also realised an overall reduction in medical consumables through less wastage. A more collaborative approach around sharing each other's techniques and practices also translated into improved understanding by all stakeholders of the economics of efficiency. As a result we reduced transit times for patients meaning a faster discharge and less hospital time which enhances their experience with us

Better utilisation meant that we could facilitate additional procedures and allowing more surgeons to access the facility.

Another welcome outcome is the ease with which we now manage accreditation processes (ACHS, DoHA & Queensland Health) as well as access to unimpeachable data for negotiations with Health Insurance Funds.

It is no exaggeration to say that I would not have been able to run such a highly regarded facility to the satisfaction of shareholders, patients and health authorities without the real time data availability provided by Scan Care.